Windows 8 can no longer play DVDs unless you pay for the Media Center package

Windows 8 can no longer play DVDs unless you pay for the Media Center package

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Sources from Pureinfotech com • MJ Tube on Youtube • Published 12 years ago

Here's something interesting: You may already know that Microsoft plans to sell Windows Media Center as a separate paid package, but now the company has just announced that Windows 8 will also drop support for DVD playback. Of course, this won't be the case if you upgrade to the Media Center package, which you can only install if you have the Pro edition of the upcoming operating system or install a third-party DVD application, of which there are tons.

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In the announcement on the Building Windows 8 blog, the software maker explains that most of the videos played on PCs and mobile devices today come from online sources such as YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc., and continue to grow rapidly. On the other hand, DVDs and TV broadcasts are "declining sharply," even Blu-ray is losing momentum on the PC, which requires "significant licensing fees" to maintain support for these playback scenarios.

Microsoft says Windows 8 will focus primarily on online and downloadable media, and that it supports a variety of codecs out of the box: H.264, VC-1, WMA, MP4, AVI, MPEG-2 TS, ASF, AAC, WAV, M4A, MP3, PCM, and Dolby Digital Plus. "These decoders are optimized for system reliability, battery life, and performance, and cover all major playback scenarios for mainstream content," the company says.

How do you plan to play DVDs or watch live TV on your Windows 8 PC in the future? – There are many ways to do this. If you choose Microsoft, you will need to upgrade to the "Media Center Pack" via "Add features to Windows 8" in Control Panel. This is if you are using Windows 8 Pro. If you are using Windows 8 only – get to know the editions – you will need to upgrade to the "Windows 8 Pro Pack" which includes Media Center, DVD playback support (only from Media Center and not Media Player), TV recording and playback (DBV-T/S, ISDB-S/T, DMBH and ATSC) and VOB file playback – prices to be announced.